Thinking Strategically: Using Vision, Purpose, and Goals to Get Results

1. Thinking Strategically: Using Vision, Purpose, and Goals to Get Results

2. Competency Model

3. Strategic Thinking Defined

4. Our Focus Today • Purpose and vision • What they are, why they matter, and the importance of articulating both • A tool to help with goal setting for your unit • Clarifying individual expectations based on team goals

5. Shared purpose

6. Why Purpose Matters • Aligns people’s work • Helps ensure that the “big picture” is considered and remembered – not the minutiae of the work but the WHY the work is being done • Provides a way to make decisions

7. Purpose “No organization will be as effective as it might be until its people understand and support the organization’s strategic purpose. A muddled sense of purpose leads to confusion and allows people to decide individually what’s important, without any context to guide them. A clear and galvanizing purpose, on the other hand, focuses everyone’s efforts and moves the organization forward in an unambiguous direction.” • Campbell and Liteman, Retreats That Work

8. Purpose “If a clear and compelling purpose exists, people will volunteer their best efforts.” Franklin Covey

9. Purpose • More than just clear job descriptions • It’s your unit’s essential reason for existence • The job to be done • A clear purpose answers the questions • What does our team do? • For whom do we do it? • Why is it important?

10. What is the job to be done for your area? Your purpose

11. Develop a Shared Purpose SharedPurpose

12. A scenario to consider… Purpose as a guide

13. vision

14. Why Vision Matters • Improves organizational performance • Attracts talent • Employees judge the organization and even you as a leader on how well you communicate a vision • Leaders who deliver a content-rich vision are seen as being in more effective organizations • Leaders who effectively articulate their vision are seen as being more effective leaders

15. Vision • Purpose achieved with excellence • Looks at “future state” • Should be ideological, clear, and challenging • Shares the big story, is easily defined, and uses challenging language • Should map to the overall vision and purpose of the organization

16. Ideological • Should give a “big picture” view of the unit • Something that inspires, motivates, and instills pride • Shouldn’t be tactical

17. An Example Dr. Raphael Guzman, Department Chair Department of Astronomy

18. An Example • “It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us…that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” --Lincoln, Gettysburg See p. 4

19. Clear • Must be concise and unambiguous • Easily understood • Should serve as a guide to strategy and action • People that need to turn the vision into a reality should be able to internalize it • Includes the key points about your area

20. Melissa Curry, Director Recruitment and Staffing

21. An Example • “Children grow up safe, physically and emotionally healthy, educated, and in permanent homes.” --Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services See p. 4

22. Challenging • Challenging language can help get commitment to the vision and help gain momentum for and dedication to it • A vision is an idea that is meant to motivate people to work toward a desirable outcome – it should be challenging!! • Language/ideas used in vision should connect to individuals’ drive and desire to succeed

23. An Example • “Our vision is a world where everyone can be connected.” --Nokia See p. 5

24. Your “elevator speech” A vision for your area

25. Goal setting

26. Goal Setting • Based on vision and purpose • Should improve the organization • Morale, efficiency, effectiveness • Should be a process that involves everyone • Should be followed up with action planning

27. A Strategic Planning Tool No Do We Have it? Yes Yes No Do We Want it?

28. An Example

29. Why Use the Grid • Helps organize strategic and long-range planning • Visible and visual – can continuously refer to it as you refine goals • Can help you develop group consensus on the organization’s direction • Helps you follow a logical process for both developing goals and making decisions about the goals

30. Why Use the Grid • Can help generate discussion when analyzing current services, products, programs, and direction • Can be used as a “quick check” to ensure alignment of goals to purpose and vision

31. Case study- using the goal grid

32. A Few Key Goals • The Goal Grid helps the team compile a “laundry list” of potential goals • You must, however, narrow the list to a few key goals • Between one and four goals is best • Why? • When there are too many goals • People tend to focus on one • Certain types of goals are more likely to be ignored than others

33. Aligning employee and team goals

34. Aligning Employee to Team Goals • Why? • Watson Wyatt study (2007-2008) showed direct correlation between engagement and productivity • Employees highly engaged in their work are 2x as likely to be top performers (and more productive) • Aligning individual goals with team goals is one way to engage your employees • They better understand how they contribute to the organization overall

35. “A Clear Line of Sight”

36. Clearly Aligned Goals • Make it easier for a manager to set clear expectations and a course of action • Because an employee can see where he/she “fits” in the overall picture • Allow employees to be involved with setting their priorities – another factor that can contribute to engagement • Can encourage creativity to achieve goals

37. Some “Homework” • Work with your team members in your unit to clarify the team’s purpose • Then determine how to incorporate it into your everyday decision-making • Set a vision... • Then start articulating it every chance you get (meetings, emails, elevators, etc.) • Consider using the Goal Grid as a framework for the process of establishing key goals

38. Some “Homework” • Ask yourself: do the employees in my unit have a “clear line of sight” from their individual goals, to the unit’s goals, its shared purpose, and its vision?

39. For Continuing Development • Visit our UF Leadership Development Toolkit: • Podcasts • Job Aids • Reading Recommendations • These tools are designed to provide ongoing support for your leadership development when and where you really need them! http://www.hr.ufl.edu/training/leadership/default.asp

40. Strategic Thinking

41. Today We… • Defined the strategic thinking competency • Discussed purpose and vision • And their importance to the success of a unit • Identified a strategy for setting unit goals • Using the Goal Grid • Discussed the importance of aligning employee goals with unit goals, purpose, and vision

42. Thinking Strategically: Using Vision, Purpose, and Goals to Get Results